Counter circuits



Sept. 24, 1963 TSlUN LlUEH LEE ETAL 3,105,141

COUNTER CIRCUITS Filed Dec. 30, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

A B C CARRY l I l O O 2 0 0 l 0 FIG. 3 3 l O O 0 WILLIAM "R. VINCENT 4 Q Q Q TSIUN LIUEH LEE WILLIAM L. STAHL O l O l l INVENTORS ATTORNEY p 1963 TSIUN LIU EH LEE ETAL 3,105,141

COUNTER cmcuns Filed Dec. 30, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

0-0-0 ooooooooo.

FIG. 5

mmalmcn-bum 00-O- OOOOO p 1963 TSIUN LlUEH LEE ETAL 3,105,141

COUNTER CIRCUITS Filed Dec. 30, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 O--O-OO OO'OOOOO O FIG. 7

comw muu-b m p 1963 TSIUN LlUEH LEE ETAL 3,105,141

COUNTER CIRCUITS Filed Dec. 30, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 8

FIG.9

oO--ooo'-o o--0oo-oo -oo--oo OOoQ-o. oooo ooooo TSlUN LlUEH LEE ETAL COUNTER CIRCUITS Filed Dec. 50, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. I0

10 lo llc |6c W30 6 l4 l5 28w, l6 l7 I8 29 20 ABCDE Unitedw Sr 3,105,141 COUNTER CIRCUITS Tsiun Liueh Lee, Ponghkeepsie, William L. Stahl, Fishkiil, and William R. Vincent, Poughlreepsie, N.Y., assignors to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 30, E60, Ser. No. 79,604 12 Claims. (Cl. 235-92) This invention relates to counter circuits, and particularly to counter circuits utilizing magnetic cores having substantially rectangular hysteresis loops. The circuits described herein are adapted to count a series of electrical current pulses.

There are disclosed herein one binary counter, one quinary counter and four modifications of decimal counters, each embodying various aspects of the invention.

An object of the invention is to provide simplified counter circuits utilizing magnetic cores.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved and simplified quinary counter circuits.

Another object is to provide improved and simplified decimal counter circuits.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are attained in the several embodiments disclosed herein. One of the embodiments is a binary counter circuit including a magnetic core having a substantially rectangular hysteresis loop, and provided with a drive winding, an output winding and a transfer winding. The output winding is connected in a series loop with a ,diode and a capacitor. A discharge circuit for the capacitor is provided through'the transfer winding so that it acts as a feedback. A capacitor is provided in series with the drive winding, and a discharge path is provided for the capacitor through the drive winding so that each input pulse of one polaritythrough the winding charges the capacitor and is followed'hy a pulse of the opposite polarity when the capacitor discharges. This circuit is efiective to count the input pulses, producing one output pulse for each two input pulses.

A quinary counter is illustrated including three counting stages and a carry stage. The first quinary counting stage is similar to the binary counting circuit just described. The quinary counting stages have their transfer windings interconnected with those of the carry stage to produce a single output pulse from the carry stage for each five input pulses.

Four difierent decimal counters are disclosed. Each includes a binary stage, three quinary stages, and a carry stage. The first one disclosed includes a binary stage similar to the binary counter described above and a quinary counter similar to that described above. The binary and quinary counters are interconnected to produce a single output pulse for each ten input pulses. The interconnections between the various stages of the quinary counter differ somewhat in the various decimal counters disclosed.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification and claims, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a wiring diagram of a binary counter embodying certain features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a wiring diagram or a quinary counter era--- bodyin g certainfeatures of the invention,

FIG. 3 is a table indicating the counting steps-performed by the respective stages in the counter ofFIG. 2;-

FIG. 4 is a wiring diagram showing oneform of decimal counter embodying the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a table-illustrating the successive count- Y ing steps performed in the counter of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a wiring diagram showing a second fo'rmof decimal counter embodying theinventiom FIG. 7 is a table showing the counting steps performed by thecounter of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a wiring diagram of a thirdform-of decimal counter embodying the invention;

FIG. 9 is a table showing the counting stepsperfiormed by the counter 'ot FIG.-8;--

FIG. 10 is a wiring diagram of a fourth form of decimal counter embodying the invention;

FIG. 1:1 is a table showing ,theflvar-iouscountingsteps performed by the counter of FIG.,10.

FIG 1 i This figure shows a binary counter including a magnetie core i material having a substantially rectangular hysteresis loop. All the cores described in this speoificar- Since that factor is.

tion have such hysteresis loops. common in the art, it will 'not be gfurther mentioned in this specification. The core. 1 is provided with a drive winding 1a, an output winding 1b, and a transfer .wind f. Squarewave input signals aresupplied at input Other wave shapes may be'used, as I, long as the energy supplied is suflicient to. switch. the. cores and to charge a capacitor, where that 'isire'quired."

inglc. terminals 2 andfi.

A capacitor 4 is connected in series with drivewind-ing 1a. A resistor '5 is connected across the input terminals [and 3. Drive Winding la andresistor 5 form ,a dis-. charge path for the capacitor 4.

A- diode =6 and a capacitor .7 areconnectedinser-ies with the output Winding 1b to form a loop. 'Iheten,

urinals-of the capacitor 7 are connected to output teru minals 8 and 9. A feedback-loopisconnected from tere minal S-through av resistor .19 and winding 10 to.-termiual .9.

Operation of FIG.'l

The .winding 1:! drives the magnetization of. thecore. 1 1

in a particular direction hereinaftertermed the zero direction. The diode 6 is poledto passan output pulse 7 only when the magnetization of core 1'changes from the.

one direction to the zero direction.

Assume that the core 1 is initially magnetized in the ing therein a current pulse of negativepolarity, driving. core 1 in the one direction. This. negativepulselinf.

duces a potential in the winding 1b, but- ,currentflow through the winding 1b is blocked by the diode 6, so

that the capacitor 7 is not charged. A similar potential,

but of opposite polarity, is induced in winding 1c, but no itor 15.

path for current flow from winding exists except through the resistor 10. Winding 1c has a smaller number of turns than winding 1b, and is proportioned with respect to resistor 10 so that it is not effective to charge capacitor 7 appreciably.

On the second positive input pulse at terminals 2 and 3, winding 1a is eifective to drive the core from magnetization in the one sense to magnetization in the zero sense. This change in the magnetization of core 1 induces in winding 1b a potential effective to send a current pulse through diode 6 and charge capacitor 7. The impedance of capacitor 7 is relatively low as compared to that of resistor 10 and winding 1c, so that those elements are not appreciably energized when capacitor 7 is charging. After the positive input pulse terminates,

the capacitor 4 discharges through winding 1a, tending to drive the core 1'in the one direction. However, at this time, capacitor 7 also discharges through resistor 10 and winding 10 with a current which flows in a direction to drive core 1 in the zero direction. The current flows in windings 1a and 1c buck each other magnetically and cancel any effect, so that the core 1 remains magnetized in the zero sense.

The conditions in the circuit are now restored to the conditions existing at the start of the. operation described above. It may be seen that the cycle described repeats itself, producing one output pulse at terminals 8 and 9 for each two input pulses at the terminals 2 and 3.

FIG. 2

This figure illustrates a quinary counter, i.e., one which produces one output pulse for each five input pulses. The 'quinary counter includes three counting stages, hereinafter identified as the stages A, B and C, and a carry stage. 7

, Stage A comprises a core 11 having a drive winding 11a, an output Winding 11b, and two transfer windings 11c and 11d. Windinglla is connected in a series loop with a capacitor 12 and a resistor 13. Winding 11b is connected in a series loop with a diode 14 and a capac- ,Counter stage B includes a core 16 having a drive winding 16a, an oumut winding 16b, and transfer windings 16c and 16d. ,Output winding 16b is connected in a series loopwith a diode 17 and a capacitor 18.

Stage C includes a core 19 having a drive winding 1911, an output winding 1% and a transfer winding 190. Out put winding 1% is connected in a series loop with a diode 20 and a capacitor 21.

The carry stage includes acore 22 having a drive Winding 22a, an output Winding 22b, and transfer windings 22c and 22d. Output winding 22b is connected in a series loop with a diode 23 and a capacitor 24. One terminal of capacitor 24 is connected to grounded output terminal 25. The other terminal of capacitor 24 is connected through a resistor 26 to "another output terminal 27. I V

-Resistor 13 and drive windings 16a, 19a and 22a are connected in series between the input terminals 2 and 3 which correspond to the input terminals 2 and 3 of FIG. 1. Winding 11a and capacitor 12 are connected across resistor 13. As an alternative to the series drive for the carry input winding 22a, as shown, an independent synchronized drive may be preferred in many cases.

A discharge circuit for'capacitor 15 of stage A may be traced through a resistor 28, transfer winding 11a of [stage A, transfer winding 16d of stage B and transfer winding 220 of the carry stage.

A discharge circuit for capacitor 18 may be traced through a resistor 29, transfer winding 16c of stage B,

, transfer winding 190 of stage C and transfer winding 22d of the carry stage.

A discharge circuit for capacitor 21 may be traced through a resistor 30 and transfer winding 11d of stage A.

Operation of FIG. 2

Starting with all the cores magnetized in their zero directions, assume that a series of positive square Wave pulses are applied between the terminals 2 and 3, such that terminal 2 is positive with respect to terminal 3. These positive pulses act in the drive windings to drive all the cores in their zero sense. In the stage A, the positive pulse is eflective to charge capacitor 12, and when the positive pulse terminates, capacitor 12 discharges through winding 11a, producing a current flow therein in a direction to drive the corelll in the one sense. Diode 14 is poled so that the shifting of the core 11 from the zero sense to the one sense is ineffective to produce a current flow through Winding 11b. The transfer windings and 11d are connected in series with resistors 23 and 30 respectively, and also have fewer turns than the output windings, and so are ineffective to produce any substantial current flows in their respective circuits. Thus, at the end of the first positive drive pulse, the core 11 is shifted to its one sense, while all the other cores remain in their zero sense of magnetization.

On the second positive input pulse, core 11 is driven by winding 1a from the one sense to the zero sense, thereby producing an output pulse in core 11b, and charging capacitor 15. The second positive drive pulse in windings 16a and 19a is again ineffective since the cores 16 and 19 are already magnetized in the zerosense. The discharge of capacitor 15 produces a current flow through winding 110 in a direction to drive the core 11 to zero.

This discharge opposes the discharge of capacitor 12 (charged by the input pulse) and holds core 11 in the zero state. The current flowing in winding 110 also flows through winding 16d in a direction to drive the core 16 in the one sense. The same current flows through the carry stage winding 220 in a direction to drive the core 22 ina zero sense. Thus, at the end of the second input pulse cycle, the cores 11, 19 and 22 remain in their zero states of magnetization, while the core 16 is shifted to its one state.

On the third positive input pulse, the drive windings 11a, 16a and 1% drive the cores 11, 16 and 19 respectively in the zero sense. Since cores 11 and 19 were .already in the zero state of magnetization, no effect is produced in those cores. The core 16, which was magnetized in the one sense is driven in the zero sense, thereby producing a current flow in Winding 16b in the direction to pass through diode 17 and charge capacitor 18. As capacitor 18 discharges, it produces a current flow through winding in a direction to drive core 16 in the zero sense. The same current passes through winding 19c in a direction to drive core 19 in the one sense, and passes through Winding 22d in the direction to drive core 22 in the one sense. When capacitor 12 discharges at the end of the third positive input pulse, it

is effective to send a current through winding 11a to On the fourth positive input pulse, no effect is produe-ed in core 16, since it is already at the zero state. However, the cores 11, 19 and 22 are all driven from the one state to the zero state, producing a carry output pulse at the terminals 27 and 25. Output pulses are also produced in windings 11b and 19b, charging the capacitors 15 and 21. When capacitor 15 discharges, it produces a current flow through winding 11c in a direction to drive core 11 in the zero sense. At the same time, capacitor 12 is discharging and sending a current through winding 11a which tends to drive core 11 in the one sense. Also at the same time, capacitor 21 is discharging and sending a current through core 11d which tends to drive core 11 in the one sense. Since there are two 1 drives in the one sense and only one in the zero sense, core 11 remains magnetized in the one sense.

Capacitor 15 in discharging sends a current through winding 16d in a direction todrive core 16 in the one sense. Since the-other windings of core 16 are at this time inactive, core 16 is magnetized in the one sense. The same current flows through winding 22c in a direction to drive core 22 in the zero sense. Since the other windings of core 22 are at this time inactive, core 22 is established in the zero sense.

Thus at the end of the fourth input pulse cycle, cores 11 and 16 are magnetized in the one sense and cores 19 and 22 are magnetized in the zero sense.

On the fifth positive input pulse, cores 11 and 16 which were in the one state are driven to the zero state by the positive input pulse. Since cores l9 and 22 are already in the zero state, the positive input pulse does not affect them. Core 11 in shifting from the one state to.the zero state produces in winding 11b a current effective to charge capacitor 15. Core 16 in shifting from the one state to the zero state is similarly effective to charge capacitor 18. Upon termination of the positive input pulse, capacitor 15 sends a current through winding I 110 in a direction to drive core 11 towards zero. The same current flows through winding 16d ina direction to drive core 16 toward one. Capacitor 18 at the same time sends a current throughwinding 160 in -a direction todrive core 15 toward the zero state. The effects of windings 16c and 16d oppose each other and hence core 16 remains. in the zero state. The current flow from capacitor 18 passes through winding 190 in a direction to drive core 19 to the one state, and also passes through winding 22d in a direction to drive core 22 to the. one state. However, the current from capacitor 15 is at this time passing through winding 22c in a direction to drive core 22 to the. zero state. Consequently, the efiects of the windings 22c and 22d oppose and balance each other. Thus, at the end of the fifth input pulse cycle, core IF is in the one state, and all the others are in the zero state.

In the table of FIG. 3, the core states indicated in .line numbered 3 in the first column correspond tothe core states identified above at the end of the first input pulse cycle. Line 4 corresponds to the states at the end of the second input pulse cycle. Line. 0 corresponds to the states at the end of the third input pulse cycle. Line 1 corresponds to the states at the end of the fourth input pulse cycle and line 2 corresponds tothe states at the end of the fifth input. pulse cycle.

If now a sixth positive input pulse is applied, the core 19 will be shifted from its one to its zero state by the positive input pulse, thereby producing an output pulse from capacitor-21 which acts in winding 11d to drive core 11 toward the one state The discharge of capacitor .12 at the. end of the sixth positive input pulse also tends to. drive core 11.to the one state. Consequently, the cores at the end of the sixth input pulse are all shifted to the states shown in line 3 of the table in FIG. 3.

It has thus beenshown that thecircuit of FIG. 2, in response to a repeated series of input pulses, produces one output pulse for each five input pulses.

In the cycle illustrated, the first output pulse is produced after three input pulses. In order to reset the counter at zero, three initial pulses must be supplied to clear this initial carry pulse and set the counter at the condition shown in line 1. The resetting of the counter may be accomplished by means of a separate input line connected to a reset pulse source and separate input windings for cores 11 and 16. Reset'pulses from this should be of low amplitude so as to switch the cores slowly without producing significant output pulses.

FIGS. 4 AND 5 These figures illustrate a decimal counter including a binary counter of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 interconnected with a quinary counter .such as illustrated in FIG. 2 to produce an output pulse after each succession of ten signal input pulses.

Those elements in FIG. 2 which correspond to their counterparts in FIGS. 1 and 2 have been given the same reference numerals.

The drive windings 1a and 11a in FIG. 2 are connected in a common input loop with a capacitor 31 and a resistor 32. Capacitor 31 replaces boththe capacitor 4 of FIG. 1 and the capacitor 12 of FIG. 2. Resistor 32 replaces both resistor '5 of FIG. 1 and resistor 13 of FIG. 2.

The binary counter stage is identified in FIGS. -4 and 5 as stage D and the. carry stage is identified as stage E. Refrering to FIG. 5, it may be seen that the quinary counter stages A," B, C go through a repeated cycle of. five distinctive combinations of-binary states, which is the same as the cycle of five combinations illustrated in FIG. 3. Line 1 of FIG. 3 corresponds to lines 2 and 7 of FIG. 5. Lines 0 and 5 of FIG. 5 are the same and correspond to line 4 of FIG. 3, Stage D actsas a typical binary counter. The various inputs to the carry stage are arranged so that a carry output pulse is produced 1 only when the stages B and C are both producing nooutput pulses (-i.e., when they are shifting toward zero and the stage D is shifting from zero to one).

Other carry alternatives may be made to workjust as well in the counter-ofFIG 4 asthe one illustrated. For example, the output at the endof the cycle illustrated by the first'line in table 5 couldbe used to trigger the carry stage by providing appropriate connections to the transfer winding 22d.

While it'would be'possible to go through the entire cycle of operation ofthe counter of FIG. 4,.step-by-step, as was done above in the case of the counter of 'FIG. 2, it is considered that such a detailed description-of the operation of the circuit-1's not necessary to 'those skilled in the art.

FIGS. 6 AND 7 FIG. 6 illustrates a modification of the circuit-of FIG. 4. The circuit of FIG. 6 is improved over the circuit of FIG. 4 in that transfer winding 164 has been eliminated. I-t'is furtherimproved in that none of-the capacitors 15, 18 and 21 is required to supply driving current tomore than two transfer windingsin series. Notein this respect that the capacitor 18 in FIG.-4 had tosend current through windings 16c, 19c and 22d -in:series..

' The discharge circuit-for capacitor 15 in FIG. 6-may be'traced through resistor 28, transfer winding 16c-and transfer winding 22d. The discharge circuit for capacitor 18 may betr aced through-resistor 29,'transfer winding 19c and transfer winding 11d. The dischargecircuit for capacitor 21 maybe traced through the resistor 30, transfer windingllc and transfenwinding 22d. The

circuit of FIG. 6 follows a cycle of. combinations of binary stages as illustrated in'the table of FIG. 7. A detailed descriptionof the operation-of the circuit is believed to be unnecessary.

FIGS. 8 AND 9 These.- figures illustrate afurther modification. of a dernimal counter embodying the invention. This, circuit represents an improvement over the circuitofFIG. 6 in that the transfer windinglld is. eliminated. Consequently, only the core 22 has. two transfer windings. All the other cores have only one transfer winding; As in the case of FIG. 6-, the. capacitors 15, 18 and 21 are required to discharge current through only two transfer windings in series.

The discharge circuit for capacitor 15 may be-traced through resistor 28, transfer Winding 16c, and transfer winding 190. The discharge circuit for capacitor 18 may be traced through resistor 29, transfer winding 22d and transfer winding 190. The discharge circuit for capacitor 21 may be traced through resistor 30, transfer Winding 11c and transfer winding 22c.

FIGS. AND 11 FIG. 10 illustrates another modification of a decimal counter embodying the invention. As in the case of the circuits of FIGS. 6 and 8, no capacitor is required to discharge through more than two transfer windings. One of the cores, namely core 16, has to have two transfer windings in this circuit, which in that respect is not as desirable as the circuit of FIG. 8. V

In FIG. 10, the discharge circuit of capacitor 15 may be traced through resistor 28, transfer winding 16d and transfer winding 22d. The discharge circuit of capacitor 18 may be traced through resistor 29, transfer winding 19c and transfer winding 220. The discharge circuit of capacitor 21 may be traced through resistor 3t transfer winding 16c and transfer winding 110.

The operation of the circuits of FIGS. 8 and 10 is illustrated in the tables of FIGS. 9 and 11 respectively. A detailed description of the individual steps in the operation is considered to be unnecessary.

While we have shown and described certain preferred embodiments of our invention, other modifications thereof will readily occur to those skilled in the art, and we therefore intend our invention to be limited only by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A decimal counter comprising:

(a) a binary counting stage;

(b) a quinary counter comprising first, second and third counting stages and a carry stage;

(c) each stage comprising a magnetic core having a substantially rectangular hysteresis loop, a drive winding, an outputwinding, and at least one transfer winding, and being shiftable between two binary states respectively characterized by magnetization of the core in opposite directions;

(d) said carry stage having at least two transfer windlugs; V

(e) means for supplying to the drive windings of all the stages a succession of separated input pulses, each said pulse acting through each drive winding to tend to magnetize the associated core in one direction; and

(1) means connecting the output winding of each stage to the transfer winding of at least one other stage;

(g) said connecting means for the three quinary counting stages including output-transfer winding connections predetermined so that those three stages pass v 7 through a repeated cycle of five individually distinctive combinations of binary states;

([1) said connecting means for the transfer windings of the carry stage including:

('1) a connection between the output winding of the binary counting stage and one :of said carry stage transfer windings; and

(2) connections between two of the output windings of two of the three quinary counting stages and at least one of the carry stage transfer windings;

(i) said output-transfer winding connections (1) and (2) predetermined so that an output pulse in the carry stage output Winding when and only when the three quinary counting stages pass from a particular one of said five combinations of binary states to the succeeding combination simultaneously with the passage of the binary counting stage from one particular binary state to the other.

2. A decimal counter comprising:

(a) a binary counting stage;

(b) a quinary counter comprising first, second and third counting stages and a carry stage;

(c) each stage comprising:

(1) a magnetic core having a substantially rectangular hysteresis loop;

(2) a drive winding;

(3) an output winding;

(4) at least one transfer Winding; and

(5) a diode and a capacitor connected in a series loop with the output winding to charge the capacitor by output pulses of one polarity only;

(d) each stage being shiftable between two binary states respectively characterized by magnetization of the core in opposite directions;

(a) means for supplying to the drive windings of all the stages a succession of separated input pulses, each said pulse acting through each drive winding to tend to magnetize the associated core in one direction;

(f) means for supplying to the drive windings of the binary counting stage and the first quinary counting stage a reverse pulse following each input pulse and tending to magnetize the associated core in the opposite direction, and

(g) means connecting the output winding of each stage to the transfer windings of at least one other stage;

(h) said connecting means for the three quinary counting stages including output-transfer winding connections predetermined so that those three stages pass through a repeated cycle of five individually distinctive combinations. of binary states;

(1') said connecting means for the transfer windings of the carry stage including output-transfer winding connections predetermined so that an output pulse is produced in the carry stage output winding when and only when the three quinary counting stages pass from a particular one of said five combinations of binary states to the succeeding combination simultaneously with the passage of the binary counting stage from one particular binary state to the other;

(i) said output-transfer windingconnections (h) and (2) including a discharge path for each of said capacitors, the discharge path for the capacitor of the binary counting stage including in series the transfer winding of that stage, and the discharge path of the capacitor of one of the quinary counting stages including in series the transfer winding of the first quinary counting stage.

3. A quinary counter comprising:

(a) first, second and third counting stages and a carry stage;

(b) each stage comprising:

(1) a magnetic core having a drive winding;

(2) an output winding; 7

(3) at least one transfer winding; and

(4) a diode and a capacitor connected in a series loop with the output winding to charge the capacitor by output pulses of one polarity only;

(c) means for supplying to the drive windings of all the stages a succession of separated input pulses, each said pulse acting through each drive winding to tend to magnetize the associated core in one direction;

(0!) means for supplying to the drive winding of the first quinary counting stage a reverse pulse following each input pulse and tending to magnetize the associated core in the opposite direction, and

(e) means connecting the output Winding of each stage to the transfer winding of at least one other stage;

(f) said connecting means for the three counting stages including output-transfer winding connections predetermined so that those stages pass through a repeated cycle of five individually distinctive combinations of binary states;

(g) said connecting means for the transfer windings of the carry stage including output-transfer winding connections predetermined so that an output pulse is produced in the carry stage output winding when and only when the three counting stages pass from a particular one of said five combinations of binary states to the succeeding one;

(it) said output-transfer winding connections (f) and (g) including a discharge path for each of said capacitors;

(i) the discharge path for the capacitor of the first quinary counting stage including in series:

(1) a first transfer winding of the first quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof;

(2) a first transfer winding of the second quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive Winding thereof; and

(3) a first transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof;

( the discharge path of the capacitor of the second quinary counting stage including in series:

(1) a second transfer Winding of said second quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof;

(2) a transfer winding of the third quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof; and

(3) a second transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof; and

(k) the discharge path for the capacitor of the third quinary counting stage including a second transfer Winding of the first quinary counting stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof.

4. A decimal counter as defined in claim 1, in which said connections (2) comprise connections from the output windings of each of the second and third quinary counting stages to one of the carry stage transfer windings other than the one conected to the 'binary stage output winding.

5. A decimal counter as defined in claim 1, in which said connections (2) comprise connections from the output windings of each of the first and third quinary counting stages to one of the carry stage transfer windings other than the one connected to the binary stage output Winding.

6. A decimal counter as defined in claim 1, in which said connections (2) include a connection from the output winding of the second quinary counting stage to one of the carry stage transfer windings, and a connection from the output winding of the third quinary counting stage to another of the carry stage transfer windings.

7. A decimal counter as defined in claim 1, in which said connections (2) include a connection from the output winding of the first quinary counting stage to one of the carry stage transfer windings, and a connection from the output winding of the second quinary counting stage to another one of the carry stage transfer windings.

8. A decimal counter as defined in claim 2, in which the drive pulse supply means (e) comprises means connecting the drive windings of the second and third counting stages in series with a resistor, means connecting the drive windings of the binary counting stage and the first quinary counting stage in a series branch with a capacitor, and means connecting said series branch across the terminals of the resistor.

9. A decimal counter as defined in claim 2, in which: the discharge path of the capacitor of the binary counting stage includes in series the transfer winding of said binary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and a first transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; the discharge path of the capacitor of the first quinary counting stage includes the transfer Winding of said first quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and the transfer winding of said second quinary counting stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; the discharge path of the capacitor of the second quinary counting stage includes a transfer winding of said second quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof, the transfer winding of the third quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and a second transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; and the discharge path of the capacitor of the third quinary counting stage includes a second transfer winding of the first quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and said second transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof.

10. A decimal counter as defined in claim 2 in which: the discharge path of the capacitor of the binary counting stage includes in series the transfer winding of said counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and a first transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; the discharge path of the capacitor of the first quinary counting stage includes the transfer winding of the second quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and a second transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; the discharge path of the capacitor of the second quinary counting stage includes the transfer Winding of the third quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and a first transfer winding of the first quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof; and the discharge path of the capacitor of the third quinary counting stage includes a second transfer Winding of the first quinary counting stage acting in the same direction as the drive winding thereof and said second transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof.

11. A decimal counter as defined in claim 2, in which: the discharge path of the capacitor of the binary counter stage includes in series the transfer Winding of said binary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and a first transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; the discharge path of the capacitor of the first quinary counting stage includes the transfer winding of the second quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and the transfer winding of the third quinary counting stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; the discharge path of the capacitor of the second quinary counting stage includes a second transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof and said transfer winding of the third quinary counting stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; and the discharge path of the capacitor of the third quinary counting stage includes the transfer winding of the first quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive Winding thereof and said first transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof.

12. A decimal counter as defined in claim 2, in which: the discharge path of the capacitor of the binary counting stage includes in series the transfer Winding of said binary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and a first transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; the discharge path of the capacitor of the first quinary counting stage includes a first transfer winding of the second quinary counting stage acting in the same sense as the drive winding thereof and a second transfer winding of the carry stage acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; the discharge path of the capacitor of the second quinary counting stage in- 11 12 cludes the transfer winding of the third quinary count- References Cited in the file of this patent ing stage acting in the same sense as the drive Winding UNITED STATES PATENTS thereof and said first transfer Winding of the carry stage 7 acting in the opposite sense to the drive winding thereof; 25 66,918 Bel'gfors Sept- 1951 and the discharge path of the capacitor of the third 5 2,795,776 Epstein 1111161111952 quinary counting stage includes a second transfer wind- 2,781,504 CflIIePa 1957 ing of the second quinary counting stage acting in the 2,8 8,07 Burton Mar. 25, 1958 same direction as the drive Winding thereof and the trans 2,832,541 Guttridge Apr. 29, 1958 fer Winding of the first quinary counting stage acting in 2,8 3,320 Chisholm July 15, 1958 the opposite direction to the drive Winding thereof. 10 2,960,684 Auerbach Nov. 15, 1960 

1. A DECIMAL COUNTER COMPRISING: (A) A BINARY COUNTING STAGE; (B) A QUINARY COUNTER COMPRISING FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD COUNTING STAGES AND A CARRY STAGE; (C) EACH STAGE COMPRISING A MAGNETIC CORE HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR HYSTERESIS LOOP, A DRIVE WINDING, AN OUTPUT WINDING, AND AT LEAST ONE TRANSFER WINDING, AND BEING SHIFTABLE BETWEEN TWO BINARY STATES RESPECTIVELY CHARACTERIZED BY MAGNETIZATION OF THE CORE IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS; (D) SAID CARRY STAGE HAVING AT LEAST TWO TRANSFER WINDINGS; (E) MEANS FOR SUPPLYING TO THE DRIVE WINDINGS OF ALL THE STAGES A SUCCESSION OF SEPARATED INPUT PULSES, EACH SAID PULSE ACTING THROUGH EACH DRIVE WINDING TO TEND TO MAGNETIZE THE ASSOCIATED CORE IN ONE DIRECTION; AND (F) MEANS CONNECTING THE OUTPUT WINDING OF EACH STAGE TO THE TRANSFER WINDING OF AT LEAST ONE OTHER STAGE; (G) SAID CONNECTING MEANS FOR THE THREE QUINARY COUNTING STAGES INCLUDING OUTPUT-TRANSFER WINDING CONNECTIONS PREDETERMINED SO THAT THOSE THREE STAGES PASS THROUGH A REPEATED CYCLE OF FIVE INDIVIDUALLY DISTINCTIVE COMBINATIONS OF BINARY STATES; (H) SAID CONNECTING MEANS FOR THE TRANSFER WINDINGS OF THE CARRY STAGE INCLUDING: (1) A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE OUTPUT WINDING OF THE BINARY COUNTING STAGE AND ONE OF SAID CARRY STAGE TRANSFER WINDINGS; AND (2) CONNECTIONS BETWEEN TWO OF THE OUTPUT WINDINGS OF TWO OF THE THREE QUINARY COUNTING STAGES AND AT LEAST ONE OF THE CARRY STAGE TRANSFER WINDINGS; (I) SAID OUTPUT-TRANSFER WINDING CONNECTIONS (1) AND (2) PREDETERMINED SO THAT AN OUTPUT PULSE IN THE CARRY STAGE OUTPUT WINDING WHEN AND ONLY WHEN THE THREE QUINARY COUNTING STAGES PASS FROM A PARTICULAR ONE OF SAID FIVE COMBINATIONS OF BINARY STATES TO THE SUCCEEDING COMBINATION SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE BINARY COUNTING STAGE FROM ONE PARTICULAR BINARY STATE TO THE OTHER. 